A US TV news presenter who played a rightwing media commentator in Oliver Stone's George Bush-bashing W was in critical condition yesterday after being stabbed and beaten at her home.

Anne Pressly, 26, of the Little Rock, Arkansas-based KATV station, portrays a TV journalist who praises President Bush's infamous "mission accomplished" speech on an aircraft carrier shortly after the start of the Iraq war. W opened in the US this weekend, and police are investigating whether Pressly's appearance might have provided a motive for the attack.

She was found at about 4.30am local time by her mother, who went to the house when Pressly failed to answer a wake-up call, according to local police spokesperson Cassandra Davis. She was found unconscious in her bed and taken to hospital. Her purse had been stolen, suggesting robbery as another potential motive.

Pressly won the role in W, which opens in the UK on November 7, after being spotted by a casting director during a trip to the Los Angeles shoot to report on the film for KATV.

W, which stars Josh Brolin as the 43rd US president, opened well with a decent $10.6m (£6.2m) at the US box office at the weekend, despite mixed reviews. The film centres on Bush's life from the age of 21 up until the present day. It also stars Elizabeth Banks, Thandie Newton, James Cromwell, Jeffrey Wright and Richard Dreyfuss.